


Hands Up If You’re With Me

by ZoeAyitian



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27792343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoeAyitian/pseuds/ZoeAyitian
Summary: When the loud chants of their name fades and their cheeks hurt from smiling, it feels like their souls are reborn beneath the warmth of the stage lights.
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 14
Kudos: 84





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a fic on AO3 called “Love Drunk” by captainkippen and it takes place in a world where the band is famous and everyone’s alive and all that jazz. I really liked the idea of this reality so i was thinking i could try and do little drabbles of jatp in this universe. Hope you enjoy! (and captainkippen i hope ur not mad at me kinda using ur idea…)

When the loud chants of their name fades and their cheeks hurt from smiling, it feels like their souls are reborn beneath the warmth of the stage lights.

“This next song is Finally Free!”

The soft melody of the piano plays throughout the stadium. Julie takes a glance at Luke at the other side of the stage, his eyes on her as she plays the beginning chords of the song. Smirking, Julie’s voice resounds out into the audience.

_ Hearts on fire _

_ We’re no liars _

_ So we say what we wanna say _

Luke smirked with a wink back with eagerness, placing his fingers on the correct strings and frets to prepare for his entrance. The crowd let out a few “whoops” feeding off of the playful energy on this stage and swaying to song.

_ I wanna fly _

_ Come alive _

_ Watch me shine _

Alex’s drums boomed as Reggie’s bass and Luke’s guitar toppled into the song with incredible energy. Julie hopped up from her chair and grabbed the mic from the stand, jumping towards the middle of the stage to sing out into the audience.

_ I got a spark in me _

_ Hands up if you can see _

_ And you’re a part of me _

_ Hands up if you’re with me _

Pressing her back against Reggie’s as he nodded his head enthusiastically to the beat, Julie sang fervently into the microphone. She walked to the front of the platform and reached her hand out to the fans in the front. A young girl shoved a sharpie and JATP album as far as her arms could lift it up. Face lighting up, Julie took the uncapped marker and wrote a sloppy signature in the corner of the cd case. The girl stared back in awe as Julie handed the marker back to her and Julie simply winked and continued to travel across the stage to touch other fans’ hands.

_ Been so long and now I'm finally free! _

Luke watched Julie walk to the back of the stage to sing to Alex as she began the second verse. The tambourine that was on the corner of the piano was now beating against the side of Julie’s thigh. Her curls bounced as she moved with the flow of the song. Her eyes beamed and her cheeks flushed against the bright lights of the stadium.

You could see the exuberance emanating from her bouncing off into the crowd and then back towards the band. She truly looked like she lived for this. Luke couldn’t help but widen the smile he wore at the girl.

Feeling his eyes on her, Julie turned and smirked at him for the second time that night. She turned to face him as they began to harmonize.

_ We know we can make it, we’re not falling under _

_ Close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder _

Julie braced the people who were screaming from the first chord. She closed her eyes and listened to the cheers, feeling their love and excitement and absorbing it to fuel her performance. She almost got lost in the beauty of it all before Alex jumpstarted the chorus again.

Reggie and Alex sang loudly into their mics to back the vocals of Julie while Luke sang along with her, emphasizing the exhilarating sound of the music. A thin sheen of sweat covered Julie as she continued to dance around the stage, hopping around to meet the boys as they played along with her.

Luke walked over to Julie, guitar in tow just as the bridge approached.

_ I got a spark in me _

Julie held the mic out towards Luke expectantly. They’ve done this many times before yet he never gets tired of the closeness between them. He could see every aspect of her face, every glint in her eyes, every inch her smile widened by. It’s times like this when he completely forgets there’s even a crowd watching.

_ And you’re a part of me _

His eyes bore into hers, showing the seriousness of the words. He was singing to her. Not just singing to her but singing like the words were  _ meant _ for her. And it couldn’t have been more of a “ditto” moment for her.

_ Now ‘til eternity _

He moved closer to her. She could almost feel his breath on her face. Her eyes flickered down to his lips before smirking wildly. Reggie and Alex glanced at each other with knowing smiles. Alex simply rolled his eyes while Reggie shrugged.

Julie scrunched her nose and rang out the ending words of the bridge.

_ Been so long and now I’m finally free! _

Her voice carried the music to the end as the boys added background “oh”’s to her singing. The crowd cheered wildly when the final notes of the song were sung.

Julie beamed at the audience with happiness like no other. Their cheers surrounded the band like an embrace. Julie silently swore that they could get high just off of the crowd's energy. She glanced at either side of her to see her boys bowing. She bowed as well and brought the mic up towards her lips as she stood straight.

“We’re Julie and the Phantoms!” Her voice sounded in the speakers. “Tell your friends!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna be honest, im not particularly good at keeping up with my multichapter stories...but im gonna try my best with this one and try to resume some of my other ones too! I will be taking requests from anyone if you have ideas of how this story could go but i will also try to use my "creative mind" for this lol. Anyways, here's chapter 2!

"Dude, that was awesome!" Reggie spoke to Luke as the foursome ran off the stage. "Great way to end the tour. But I'm kind of sad that it's ending."

Luke shrugged while putting his arm around Julie. "Yeah but at least I get to hang out with my favorite people." He winked down at Julie and she returned by elbowing him in the ribs with a grin.

Alex rolled his eyes. "People or _person_?” He implied with a raised eyebrow. “Besides, we've been stuck on a bus together for 6 months. Trust me, we do not need to spend anymore time with each other. I've seen things that could break a man."

"Good thing you're not a man then." Luke snorted.

Alex laid an offended hand on his chest while the rest of the group snickered. The group rounded the corner into the backstage common room and were greeted by their manager, Macy.

"Amazing show, guys! The audience loved it." Macy smiled a warm smile as they walked into their dressing room.

"Thanks, Macy." Julie returned the warm smile and proceeded to take a seat on the armchair placed in the corner.

"Yeah, thanks Mama Mace." Reggie winked as he moved to the couch that was next to Julie His back was met with a halfhearted glare by Macy.

"Anyways, you guys are completely free this upcoming save for a talk show with Carrie Wil—"

A collective groan was sounded throughout the room.

"Carrie?" Julie whined. "The meanest person on earth, Carrie?"

"I'm sorry but she insisted and it would look bad for you guys to reject the hottest talk show host right now."

"She's definitely hot." Reggie spoke, thoughtfully. All eyes landed on him. Julie almost had a look of disgust. "What?"

"Look," Macy put the attention back on herself with her "business voice". "I know you don't like her but whatever drama you had going on in high school needs to be put aside."

Luke saw the dejected look on Julie's face. "Hey, it's only gonna be for like an hour. What could go wrong?"

Julie pondered all of the possible scenarios of what could happen in her head with the demon that is Carrie Wilson. It may seem immature and petty to hold grudges since high school but Carrie was the one factor in her high school experience that made everything miserable for her. Especially after her mom died.

But if it's for the sake of the band...maybe she could let it go for an hour.

"Fine, but if she says anything off to me I just want to let you guys know now that my actions will not be my own at that point." Julie crossed her arms and hardened her face.

"Oh please, like you could hurt a fly." Reggie laughed.

"Hey, I can be mean!" Julie argued.

The boys looked at each other with a knowing look and busted out cackling. Julie looked to Macy but all she could do is shrug and attempt to hide the laugh bubbling up in her throat.

Julie simply huffed and leaned back in her chair. _Assholes_.

"Aw c'mon now we've made her mad. Jules, you want a lollipop?" Alex snickered from the left side of the long couch that held the boys. Julie stuck her tongue out at him and lifted her middle finger in his direction, resulting in more laughter.

Macy glanced at her phone and broke through their cackles. "Time to go, guys. Limo's outside."

"Oh limo. What did we do to deserve that." Reggie said as the group hopped up from their seats. They suspected that people have already gathered their stuff into the car since no one told them to get it.

"I thought you guys could use a little post-tour reward." Macy grinned, leading them back to where the car was.

* * *

The gang moved through the fans that crowded the exit as best as they could, stopping occasionally to make comments for paparazzi and sign autographs and take pictures with fans. There were two tall, built bodygraphs at the front and back of the group to stop any handsy and assertive fans from getting too close. Usually it would be one at each end but after an incident where Reggie lost his shirt, Luke almost got his pants ripped off and Alex practically got manhandled by a group of teenage girls, Macy thought it was best not to risk it.

Just as everyone was set into the car a persistent man with a camera arrived at Julie’s side right before her door closed. Almost pushing himself inside of the car to keep the door from closing, he assembled his camera right in Julie's face and flashed it mercilessly.

Dots covered Julie's vision as she placed a hand in front of her eyes to shield them for the nearly blinding proximity of the light. Another hand, which she assumed was Luke's because he was the only other person at her side, moved her head into his shoulder to help get away from the man who was shouting at her as he continued to take pictures.

"Hey, man could you not?" Alex complained while Reggie glared hard but the man paid no attention to either of them.

The man simply continued on with his shouting at Julie. "Are you and Luke Patterson dating?"

He was basically in the car at this point, moving his camera around to try and get different angles of Julie and Luke. Julie's breathing began to escalate. Everyone knew that she was a major advocate for mental illness and that even though she's a performer, her anxiety is still very present. Especially in situations like this.

She's talked on her platform many times about what triggers her and how her anxiety and depression started after her mother died. She's explained how sometimes the chaotic energy of being in a band can get to her sometimes but it's gotten better the more time she's spent in the spotlight. Although, paparazzi brought an entirely different kind of anxiety that Julie usually tried to avoid.

Normally she would answer whatever questions she could from the annoying photographers but sometimes that wouldn't be enough for them. And though some paparazzi can be considerate and respect her wishes when she's done answering questions, most aren't as forgiving.

This guy was among the most.

"Julie Molina, are you and Luke Patterson an item?" The man grabbed Julie's arm significantly hard to try and turn her around to face the camera.

Julie's eyes widened in horror and tried to yank her arm back but the man was unrelenting. "Get off of me!"

"Just answer the question." The man growled.

Luke and Alex pulled Julie back while Reggie broke the grip of the man with a strong pull. Security came in time at the break of contact to gather up the resilient man and drag him away from the car. Reggie shut the door quickly and Luke told the chauffeur to go ahead and drive them away from the venue, his arm still around Julie's shaking form.

"Jules." Alex started, his eyes laced with worry.

"You okay?" Reggie asked in a concerned tone.

Her head was back in Luke's shoulder and her eyes were shut tightly.

Luke moved her so that she faced him, both of his hands on either side of her face. "Julie. Hey. It's okay. Breathe."

A gasp escaped her lips. She hadn't even noticed she wasn't breathing until Luke pointed it out. Luke started to speak but she couldn't hear a word. Her eyes darted around the inside of the car rapidly. She tried to take a breath but for some reason she couldn't.

"Julie." Her eyes met the source of the voice. In her frenzy, Reggie and Alex seemed to have moved behind Luke, all of their gazes were on her. "Julie, do what I do." Luke spoke in a firm voice as demonstrated a deep breath in through his nose and an exhale from his mouth

Julie followed as best as she could until her breathing became semi-regular. Luke smiled a reassuring smile at her once he saw she was regaining control. She saw the panic on all of the boys' and she desperately wanted to ease their concern.

She cracked a small smile and spoke in a hoarse voice. "Nothing like a mini panic attack to end a tour, am I right?"

The boys grinned at her happily and at her horrible attempt to make the situation lighter. Yet it worked.

"Group hug!" Reggie moved to the side of Julie that Luke wasn't on and ambushed her in a tight embrace. Alex wiggled himself in between Julie and Luke and attacked her other side in a warm hug.

"Hey what about me?" Luke whined with a pout.

Julie rolled her eyes and opened her arms as wide as the hugs on either side of her body would allow. "Come on, you puppy." Luke beamed at her and tackled her middle without care. Julie let out a hearty laugh.

"This is nice." Reggie said. And it was.

After a nice, comfortable moment in their band embrace, Reggie spoke again. "Can we get ice cream?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so i dont really know how im going to do this. Should i make it a series of drabbles of the band in this universe? Should each chapter be a part of a singular story? Let me know in the comments! Call me out on any mistakes in this chapter. Read and review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im back! Okay so this has been in my mind for hours but i was too lazy to write it before so now im doing it at 1 am before i forget it.

"Can you please look again?"

"I'm sorry Miss but we've looked everywhere."

They'd been at the airport for at least an hour, waiting at baggage claim. Most everyone has gathered their belongings and left but Julie couldn't leave until…

"But I swear I brought it with me on the plane," Julie murmured more to herself. In reality, it shouldn't have been that serious. She was 20 years old for goodness sake. But she'd had it since forever. The old fabric and loose stitching forever etched into her mind. It's one of the only living relics her mom had given her before she passed. The thought of it being gone isn't something she could fathom.

"Miss, we haven't seen a stuffed animal in any of our ports. If we hear anything, we'll let you know." With that, the baggage handler walked away leaving Julie in a mess.

Honestly, it's just a bear. An old, worn out bear that had been in her life for a long time. She never went anywhere without, always bringing with her on tours and keeping it backstage as a good luck charm before performances. Sometimes it would almost be as if her mom was there with her.

She knew mentally that her mom would always be with her no matter what. Somewhere in her mind or heart or whatever. But _emotionally_ , that bear was the only other thing that made her feel close to her mom besides music. Mr. Harmelody (when she was younger she stumbled over her words and accidentally combined harmony and melody, somehow the name stuck) was there all the time. And she doesn't know why but she _needs_ it with her.

"Come on, Julie, it's getting late." Luke laid a hand on her shoulder, pulling her out of her reverie.

"But…" Julie looked towards the boys and they were almost falling asleep on their feet. It had been a long flight and they still needed to wake up early the next morning for their interview with Carrie. Glancing at her phone, she winced when she saw it was a quarter til one am. "Yeah, okay. Sorry for making you guys wait so long."

Reggie, who had been leaning on a concrete column, slowly waking at the sound of Julie's voice being directed at him, Alex, and Luke. "No worries, Jules." He gave a tired smile and kicked Alex, jolting him awake.

"Are we at the hotel yet?" Alex yawned.

"No, but the cab's outside." Luke grabbed his suitcase and started towards the exit with the boys dragging their feet behind. Julie was lagging behind the three of them sleepily as she tried to rub away the stinging behind her eyes. It's not that serious. Everything will be alright.

* * *

Everything was _not_ alright.

Luke had been sitting with Julie for hours trying to come up with lyrics but the girl was dead on her feet. Ever since she lost Mr. Harmelody (he could imagine 3-year-old Julie saying that name in all her adorable cuteness) she'd been so reserved. Her answers would be 3 words or less. And she looked so distracted lately, always looking at her phone anxiously. Like she was waiting for it to ring and tell her the best news ever.

He knew the significance of the bear, how much it connected it to her mom. But he didn't think the loss of it would affect her _this_ much. She was barely functioning what with all the singing and touring and late nights but she did it all with a smile on her face. Now she had a blank stare and barely said a word to anyone.

Yeah, he needed to fix this.

Once Julie left, Luke pulled out his phone and went straight to his text messages, clicking on the group chat with the boys.

_**Luke: guys we gotta help julie** _

_**Alexander: Yeah…** _

_**Reginald: Help her with what?** _

_**Alexander: Haven't you noticed that she's been kinda…** _

_**Luke: d e p r e s s e d** _

_**Alexander: ^^^** _

_**Reginald: Oh i thought she was just thinking. I mean thats what i look like when i think too hard.** _

_**Alexander: Nah you look more constipated** _

_**Luke: ANYWAY** _

_**Luke: we need to find Mr. Harmelody** _

_**Luke: any, ideas?** _

_**Reginald: Oooooo maybe we could bribe them** _

_**Alexander: With what? Your stupidity?** _

_**Reginald: *gasp* I take that very offensive** _

_**Alexander: You should** _

_**Alexander: Calling the airport would probably be the best option** _

_**Alexander: Though I think if they found it they would've called** _

_**Luke: right but maybe we just have to be more insistent** _

_**Alexander: Oh wow Luke, broadening your vocabulary lately?** _

_**Luke: haha** _

_**Luke: instead of calling we could like go in there and demand the bear** _

_**Luke: that could work right?** _

_**Alexander: Not if we want to be carried away by airport security** _

_**Reginald: Ngl thatd be kinda fun** _

_**Luke: idk guys but we have to find it. Julie is not okay** _

_**Reginald: Awww yeah for Jules we gotta find Mr. Harmelody** _

_**Reginald: ...I still think bribing them could work** _

_**Alexander: Wait maybe we could bribe them with a concert.** _

_**Alexander: If they search, we play** _

_**Luke: yeah that could work!** _

_**Luke: i'll call flynn so she can set it up. that girl is more intimidating than our actual manager** _

All the details would be figured out now but for now…

"We're coming for you, Mr. Harmelody."

* * *

Julie was bummed.

Well to be honest, she was bummed all the time now. It had been a little over a week since Mr. Harmelody has been gone. The fact that she was this upset over a stuffed animal made her feel like a child again. She was reminded of the time she lost Mr. Harmelody when she was 9 years old. Her mom had taken her and Carlos to the town fair and her mom warned her not to bring Mr. Harmelody but at the time she was at the age where her attachment to her belongings was fierce. Julie didn't have a good grip on her bear for the dropdown ride and Mr. Harmelody went flying from her hands and through the air.

As soon as her legs were on solid ground she went running in the general direction of where the bear flew, leaving her mom and Carlos to follow behind her as tears trailed down her face. After an hour of crying and searching, Rose found Mr. Harmelody lodged underneath a vendor cart for funnel cake.

Maybe she had been a little dramatic back then, especially when she cried "my life is ruined" in her mother's embrace. But all the memories and love engraved in that bear seemed to be lost without it with her.

Just as they seemed lost right now.

Walking through the hallway of her apartment building, Julie heard voices from behind her door.

"Shhh."

Furrowing her eyebrows, she placed her ear against the door gently so as not to alert the people inside her apartment of her presence.

"Okay, I'm gonna set up the camera."

"Reg, we don't need to record this."

"Are you kidding? The fans will eat this up. A touching JATP moment, if you will."

"I will not."

Hearing enough, Julie unlocked the door and wandered in.

"Julie!" Luke yelled, surprised.

There Alex, Luke, and Reggie stood looking as suspicious as ever.

Hesitantly, Julie continued her trek inside. "Hey…" She spoke wearily.

"Did we figure out how we're gonna present it to her?" Alex asked after a brief moment of silence as Julie stared at them skeptically with her arms crossed.

"Uh no. Not really." Reggie responded, still looking at Julie with a smile on his face.

"What's going on?"

The boys looked at each other as if making a small agreement as they nodded their heads slightly. Luke had both his hands behind his back, clearly holding something. He stepped up to her and proceeded to show her Mr. Harmelody in all of his stuffed glory.

Everything was the exact same. The same worn clothes and stitches that were begging to be replaced, albeit a little dirtier than before. Julie reached a hand to touch the fluffiness of the soft bear, tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

"How did you…"

"Let's just say we're gonna be performing a private concert at the airport on Thursday." Luke smiled, proudly at her.

Julie barely even heard him. She quickly gathered the bear from Luke's hands and clutched tightly to her chest, closing her eyes at the familiar yet nonexistent embrace of Mr. Harmelody. She bent her legs until her knees were fully folded against her chest, pushing the bear closer against her as her arms tightened around it.

Tears streamed down her face freely and she almost didn't register the feeling of her boys kneeling around her. The proximity brought even more comfort.

"Thank you." Julie croaked out, her eyes still shut firmly.

"Anytime, Jules." Alex rubbed her back as she cried softly.

Once her cries ceased, Julie looked up with puffy eyes at each of the boys who surrounded her. "Mr. Harmelody says 'thank you' too." She grinned brightly.

"Aw," Reggie spoke as he placed his arms around all three of them. "I can't wait to put this on Instagram."

* * *

The next day Julie got an Instagram notification that she was tagged in a post from Reggie. The caption read:

" **JATP moments like this >>>"**

Julie smiled down at her phone when she saw a picture of the four of them kneeled on the carpet floor of her apartment gathered in a warm hug. Obviously, he chose not to post the full video, wanting to keep _some_ parts of their lives separate from their fanbase.

After taking a look through the comments, she finally decided to comment one of her own.

**“Mr. Harmelody is back in commission!"**

**lukepatterson replied to your comment: "damn right!"**

**alexmercer replied to your comment: "The unofficial member of Julie and the Phantoms"**

Julie grinned happily as she laid her phone on her coffee table. Mr. Harmelody may have been her source of comfort then but now? She had her boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually really liked this,, i hope you guys do too! I really liked the texting part. especially trying to figure out how each person would text. I figured luke would most likely forgo capitalization with his "too cool for school" act while reggie wouldnt really care for autocorrect and alex would have somewhat “pristine” grammar. At least thats how i pictured it. Um it's now 5 am and im gonna go to sleep lol. CALL ME OUT ON ANY MISTAKES. Im def not proofreading at this time. Love you all and comment what I should do next!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was all over the headlines. Every magazine had mentioned their relationship at least twice.
> 
> “Are Willie Stewart and Alex Mercer a thing?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn’t think i was only gonna write stories about Juke right? Nope Willex forever!!!

It’s no secret that Alex is gay. Sure he and the group didn’t parade it around but it wasn’t like they were hiding it. They just didn’t feel the need to bring up in a discussion. So when news got out that Alex was dating skateboarder Willie Stewart, hell broke loose.

**_“Alex Mercer, spotted holding hands during a stroll on the beach with famous BMX skateboarder, Willie Stewart. Does the Julie and the Phantoms drummer secretly play for the other team?”_ **

It was all over the headlines. Every magazine had mentioned their relationship at least twice.

**_“Are Willie Stewart and Alex Mercer a thing?”_ **

So many social media posts have surfaced and bombarded Alex’s notifications.

**jatpsbaby mentioned you in a tweet: “Wait is this for real?”**

**alexmercerstannn replied to a tweet you’re mentioned in: “AAAHHHHHH MY BABY’S DATING SOMEONE”**

**JulieandthePhan replied to a tweet you’re mentioned in: “they’re so cute!!!!”**

To say that Alex was overwhelmed was an understatement.

“I mean, I can see why they’re freaking out.” Julie’s eyes were cast down at her phone as she went through the many, _many_ tweets regarding Alex’s “newfound” sexuality and relationship. “You are a pretty private person. I don’t even think we would’ve known if you didn’t tell us.”

“Well actually I think we would’ve picked up on it from his usual love sigh.” Reggie spoke while reenacting what appeared to be Alex when he was thinking about Willie. Which was all the time.

“I just don’t get why it’s such a big deal.” Alex groaned, slumping further in his chair.

“Dude, any knowledge of your personal life is a big deal. Our fans really only know your name and job.” Luke piped up.

“That’s not true. They know stuff about me.”

“Like what?”

“Uh…” Alex went silent almost immediately. Surely he hadn’t been _this_ quiet about his life, right? “My birthday?”

“Really?” Luke deadpanned while the other gave him a look.

“Alex.” Reggie hopped in. “There are multiple fan pages whose sole purposes are to find out more information about you.”

“Okay fine!” Alex huffed and threw his hands up in defeat. “Maybe I do keep some events in my life... _isolated_ from the public. I didn’t think that my relationship would cause this much chaos.”

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep your life private, Alex.” Julie softened and laid a hand on Alex’s knee.

“It’s not that I wanted to keep it private.” He crossed his arms. “I just didn’t feel the need to broadcast it everywhere.”

Luke intervened. “Look, man, the people are thirsty—”

“Starving!” Reggie added.

“—starving for details. I think it’s time you give them _something_ to bite on before they go crazy with the little bit of information they have.”

Alex nodded. He may have been neglecting to tell his fans anything. Honestly, he’d been too busy with his new thing with Willie that he completely forgot to even include how the world would think. Yeah, he’s gonna have to not do that anymore.

* * *

“We have with us today, platinum record band, Julie and the Phantoms!”

The audience clapped vivaciously as the four band mates walked out onto the stage. They each greeted their host, Terra Jones, with a hug. Taking a seat on the couch, the group smiled and waved at the people in front of them.

“Julie, Reggie, Alex, Luke; welcome and thank you for coming.” Terra smiled a warm smile at the four of them.

“Thank you for having us.” Julie responded, brightly.

“So,” Terra settled into her chair until she looked comfortable. “How is everyone?”

“Great” and “good” resounded throughout the group.

“Alright let’s get right down to business. Alex, care to shed some light on this photo that is currently breaking the internet?”

The photo of Willie and Alex holding hands appears on the screen behind them, displayed boldly to the audience and the cameras.

Alex chuckled nervously and played with his hands. “Well I guess I’ve been pretty private about my life.”

Terra’s eyes widened. “You guess?”

“I mean, I never intended to keep the fact that I was dating someone a secret.”

“So it’s true. You’re dating BMX star, Willie Stewart?”

Alex sighed. He never really got used to this. The prying questions and perceptive eyes. He didn’t really understand why his personal life was such an interesting topic. His parents never really wanted to know what happened to him after he came out. And mainly people focused on Julie and Luke (though the two of them would say that there was nothing to focus on. They knew better.), hoping to get some word of confirmation on their relationship.

People never really _cared_ about what he did. Sure he was an important part of the band and fans loved him but he was never the main attraction. It’s weird to think that people are more invested in the concept of his life than he thought.

Maybe...maybe it wasn’t so bad. The attention. Maybe he could finally feel as important as the rest. Of course he knew he was in his head but his heart wanted a little more reassurance.

“Yes. I am.”

The audience murmured amongst themselves and Alex played with his fingers more vigorously.

“Well may I just say,” Alex held his breath. “You two make an adorable couple.”

Alex laughed relieved. He didn’t know why but expected some sort of…rejection. But it was different now. Times we're different. “Yeah. I like to think so.”

“I don’t mean to sound too forward but I didn’t even know you we're a part of the LGBT community.” Terra raised an eyebrow, her voice taking a curious tilt.

“Uh yeah. I came out when I was 15. Been gay ever since.” Alex joked.

“Hm. And how was that? Coming out, I mean.”

Alex shrugged. “Some were accepting. Others weren’t.” He’d gotten over the painful rejection he had faced at a young age. Sure the memory would always be burned into his mind but it didn’t for a second define him in any way. “But not everyone’s gonna be okay with who I am and that’s fine. As long as i’m okay with it.”

Terra nodded respectfully and continued on. “Alright, I know that there are more of you to talk to but I have one last question. Are you happy?”

That one threw him off guard. Yeah these personal were a lot. But was he? Willie and him had been going out for a good 2 months and it had been some of the greatest moments of his life. To walk around hand in hand and hug each other with no worry or regrets. To be free and to unapologetically embrace their relationship to the world...he knew the answer.

“Very.” On his face was the love stricken look he was being made fun of for days before. “More than I’ve been in a long time.”

Terra took the information with a wide smile. “Well you heard it here folks. I can already hear the couple names. Allie? Alewill? Willex?”

Luke finally spoke up after what seemed like hours of not talking in order to let his friend open up without his input. “Oooo I like Willex.”

Julie and Reggie added with knowing smirks. “Same.” 

“Well then _Willex_ is out and about in the world. Speaking of being out and about, tell me; when is the new album coming out, guys?” Terra changed the subject so quickly Alex almost didn’t register it.

The interview continued on with new tours and album release dates. There was some “Juke” thrown in but other than that everything was promotional.

Willie texted Alex after the show and Alex opened it immediately, getting a teasing stare from Reggie which he shrugged off.

**_Willie: “You make me happy too(;”_ **

The butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he smiled down bashfully at his phone.

Yeah. This whole thing wasn’t so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you all should kno by now; no i do not proofread. so if any of you would be a doll and call me out on any mistakes i would very much appreciate. i hope i did willex justice with this one. comment what ya


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im back!! I dreamt about this one so i hope i got all the components of dream in here:))

The four of them went on a group trip to the mall to mark their first week back in LA. The road and performances and fans would be missed but they were still happy to settle down after the tour. Especially being able to walk around freely without having a deadline or “curfew” to uphold.

Currently, they were in a Build-A-Bear with Reggie taking his precious time choosing an outfit for his newly stuffed brown teddy bear.

“I’m thinking I should go full pirate but I kind of want Joey to be a princess. What do you think?”

“I think,” Alex started as he tapped his foot impatiently, his bear lodged in his arm boxed and ready to go, “We’ve been looking at outfits for the past 15 minutes and I might explode if you show me another pirate suit.”

Luke, having just paid for his bear at the register, turned up next to Alex with a bounce in his step.

“C’mon Reg, I wanna do as much stuff before people start to recognize us.” Luke looked around excitedly as his sunglasses reflected the fluorescent light of the shop. “The hat and glasses can only do so much to hide who we are.”

“Tell that to Clark Kent.” Reggie rebuttal. “And this process requires precision and thorough research in order to capture the essence of Joey. These clothes will either make or break his personality.”

“...You do know that it’s not a real person right?” Alex raised an eyebrow.

Reggie looked offended and quickly moved to cover the ears of his bear. “Dude! He’s _right here_.”

Alex rolled his eyes and walked over to glass doors that led to the large hall of chain stores. Julie was just outside the store sporting one of Luke’s many beanies and her prescription glasses, deciding to forgo Luke’s lead of wearing sunglasses.

“Reggie’s probably going to take all afternoon picking something for his bear?” Julie greeted Alex with a question.

“Oh no. If he does that we’re leaving him here.”

Julie let out a brief laugh. “Well, given our current situation he probably wouldn’t mind that. I bet that he’d—”

“Excuse me?”

A high-pitched voice spoke softly to Julie. A girl, not more than 5 or 6 stood before her, teary-eyed and looking relatively scared. The little girl pushed the balls of her fists into her closed sockets and looked up at Julie wide-eyed.

“Can you help me?” She said with fear laced in her voice. Julie could tell that the little girl was terrified to even approach her with her lip slightly quivering.

Julie knelt down to the girl‘s level throwing a quick glance at Alex and met her eyes. “Of course sweetie. What do you need help with?”

“I can’t find my mommy.” The girl looked like she was about to cry as the quiver of your lip became more prominent. As Julie suspected a single tear trail down the girl‘s left cheek.

“Hey, don’t cry.” Julie reached to wipe the tear before it got too far down her face. “My name is Julie. What’s your name?”

The little girl sniffled. “Chloe.” 

“Well Chloe, let’s go find your mom. Can you tell me what she looks like?”

Chloe nodded and looked around anxiously as if she would find her mom before she had to talk further. “Her hair looks like mine and her eyes are like mine too.”

Chloe had red hair and hazel eyes, Julie noted. at least that’s a distinctive feature that she could easily look for.

“And what is she wearing?”

“Um.” Chloe‘s eyebrows furrowed in thought. “A yellow shirt and blue pants.”

“Okay. Do you wanna hold my hand as we look?”

Chloe hesitated at first but then nodded, taking Julie’s hand eagerly when she held it out.

“I’ll be back in a few,” Julie spoke over her shoulder to Alex who only nodded in return.

“We’ll meet you at the fountain.”

Julie began leading the girl around different shops the mall held, stopping if someone looked close to the description Chloe had given.

“Chloe, where was the last place you and your mom were together?” Julie asked as her eyes still looked around in concentration. Surprisingly, there were many people at the mall dressed in yellow shirts and blue pants. None of them had Chloe's vibrant red hair, though.

“I...I don’t know the name. It was Makey’s, maybe?”

The way Chloe cocked her head at the uncertainty of her words was not at all missed by Julie. 

“Do you mean Macy’s?”

“I thought C’s make a K sound.” Chloe’s confusion was adorable to no end. The freckles on her face and the redness of her cheeks seemed to be that much more prominent when she didn’t understand something.

“They do but sometimes they make an S sound.” Julie smiled down at the girl. Knitting her eyebrows in puzzlement, Julie looked at the directional signs leading to Macy’s. “Hey kid, Macy’s is pretty far away. How did you get all the way over here?”

Chloe cast her eyes downward at the question, shuffling on the balls of her feet slightly. “I saw a doggy. And I really wanted to pet it so I followed it. But then I lost it and when I turned around, Mommy wasn’t there.”

Julie looked up at the signs hanging from the post of the ceiling then back at the girl. “That’s okay.” 

She laid a hand on the top of Chloe’s. “C’mon, let’s try something else.”

Julie walked the girl to the most open part of the mall. The wide, round center of the mall was the most populated and was usually where people would go to be reunited with someone who they’d lost sight of during their shopping. With Chloe in tow, Julie made a beeline to the fountain that sat in the middle of the area. Helping her on to the ledge of the fountain, Julie placed her hands under the armpits of the girl before hopping onto the surface herself.

“What are we doing here?”

Confusion laced Chloe’s voice once again. Julie only smiled.

“Well, your mom is probably looking for you too. Here, she’ll be able to see you in this big space.”

“Oh.”

Chloe looked out at the crowd surrounding them, hoping in a way that her mom would turn up immediately.

“So,” Julie asked, trying to distract the little girl temporarily, “What do you like to do for fun?”

The girl perked up instantly. She shifted so that her body faced Julie’s slightly and began talking animatedly. “I like to play with dollies and on the monkey bars and listen to music and—”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Julie chuckled and held her hands out in order to pause the rambling girl facing her. “Slow down girl! One at a time. You said you like music?”

“Yeah! Mom puts on Queen, Journey, Whitney Houston, Backstreet Boys, Celine Dion…”

“Sounds like your mom has great taste.” Julie nodded in approval. 

Her mom had also introduced her to those artists when she was younger. Julie thought later on that her mom tried to cram in as much musical knowledge into her brain as she could before she inevitably passed on. And Julie could not be more grateful for it.

“Oooo and our favorite right now is Julie and the Phantoms! Have you heard of them?”

Julie’s smile brightened slightly. “Yeah, I may have heard a few songs.”

“They’re awesome! I want to play the bass just like Reggie!” Chloe positioned her hand as if she was holding a guitar and began strumming vigorously in the air.

“You don’t like the rest?” Julie questioned playfully but with an underlying want to know.

“Yeah but Reggie’s my favorite.” Chloe mused. “So is Alex...and Julie and Luke.”

“So you like them all.” Julie laughed as Chloe gave her a lopsided grin.

“How could I not?” 

Julie pretended to ponder. “Fair enough.”

“Hey Jules.” Julie turned to meet the voice that called her name in the chattering throng of people. 

There were the three boys Chloe and her were just talking about with ice cream in their hands. Each held their Build-A-Bear boxes, Luke holding an extra box under his arm and an ice cream cone in each hand.

“We brought ice cream.” Reggie said excitedly as if Julie couldn’t see it clearly in their hands.

“I see.” Julie smiled admirably.

Luke turned up at the other side of her and hopped up to sit next to her on the edge of the fountain.

“We brought you some.” He said and gently handed the cone to her despite all the things he was carrying on his person.

“And Luke was very adamant on carrying both your bear and ice cream to you.” Alex teased as Luke stuck his tongue out at the drummer and ignored his comment.

“Thanks guys.” Seeming to notice that Chloe was still to her, Julie turned a little towards the side Chloe was on. “Guys this is Chloe.”

Chloe looked at each boy and waved albeit a bit timidly. Her bright exterior seemed a bit dim now that more people infiltrated their spot on the fountain.

Julie noticed and continued a little softly. “Chloe these are my friends Alex, Luke and Reggie.”

Chloe’s eyes seemed to widen a little at the mention of all of their names but she didn’t say anything. Julie could practically see the wheels whirring in her little redhead. She almost smiled but turned her head before Chloe could see.

“Sweetie, you want some of my ice cream?” Julie offered.

Chloe nodded eagerly and took the spare spoon Julie had offered her. She dug her spoon into the large scoop of ice cream presented to her as Alex and Reggie placed themselves on the unoccupied side of her.

“Hey Chlo—can I call you Chlo?” Chloe nodded, barely even paying attention as she shoved a spoon full of sugary goodness into her mouth. “Your hair is really cool. Like, Merida from Brave cool.”

Chloe beamed, her eyes twinkling brightly. “Thanks! I like your hair too. It’s shiny.”

Alex chuckled at the far end of the group. “Pretty sure that’s just the hair gel, Chloe.”

“Well, I like it.” Chloe said resolutely.

“Thank you, Chlo.” Reggie threw a half-hearted glare at Alex who only shrugged and licked his ice cream.

“Don’t encourage him, Chloe. We're trying to get him to cut down on the hair gel.” Luke spoke, not even bothering to look up from his intent gaze on his ice cream.

“Yeah, Reggie has a slight hair gel addiction.” Julie leaned into Chloe to feign a whisper though all the boys could hear her clearly. 

“Oh please, Julie, you have an accessories addiction.” Reggie returned.

“Do not!”

“You sure?” Alex gestured to her hair which had various colors of butterfly clips down the length of it.

“Jules I hate to agree but you are obsessed with your hair clips.” Luke jumped even though _no one asked_.

“Okay, since when was this “Gang up on Julie” day?”

“I think your hair clips are pretty,” Chloe said sweetly.

“And that is why Chloe’s my best friend.” Julie gave each boy a pointed look. “I’m disowning all of you.”

“Aw, Julie we’re hurt.” Alex placed a hand on his chest in an attempt to show his so-called “hurt”.

“Yeah, is there any way you could forgive us?” Luke gave his best puppy dog eyes.

“Hmmm.” Julie turned to look at Chloe. “What do you say, hon? You think I should forgive them?”

Chloe pretended to ponder, following Julie’s lead quickly. “Maybe. But make them beg.”

“Oooo I like the way you think.”

“Oh God, she’s gonna cause trouble, isn’t she?”

Julie and Chloe looked at each other and broke out in a laugh.

“Chloe!”

A frantic voice broke through the girls’ laughter. All five heads looked to see a woman with red hair similar to Chloe’s walking quickly towards them. Chloe dropped her spoon and stumbled down from the fountain ledge and ran towards the woman.

“Mommy!”

Chloe launched herself into the mother’s arms with reckless abandonment, somehow knowing that the woman would catch her. With Chloe’s back to them, Julie could see the utter relief and worry that covered the woman’s face. She pulled back to assess her daughter’s face.

“Are you okay, baby? Are you hurt? Did anything happen while I was gone?”

“I’m fine, Mommy. My new friends stayed with me while we waited for you!”

Chloe’s mom glanced up at the four of them as they stood to meet her. 

“Thank you. I-I don’t know how this happened. I was paying for some clothes and then I turned my back and she was gone. I was so worried I—”

“It’s no big deal. Chloe is precious, it was really fun hanging out with her.” Julie turned her eyes to the little girl and grinned which Chloe returned.

The woman hugged Chloe closer to her side. “I… thank you. My name’s Melinda.” She held out a hand towards Julie.

Julie took her hand and shook it gently. “I’m Julie.” She gestured to the boys behind her. “This is Luke, Alex and Reggie.”

Much like Chloe did when she heard their names, Melinda’s eye widened comically. 

“Julie, Luke, Alex and Reggie? As in…”

The group exchanged knowing looks and gave a nod to let Melinda know that what she was thinking was in fact correct.

“Oh, um, wow. I, uh, I’m a huge fan—”

“Oh, I know. Chloe told me.” Julie smiled. “And I gotta say, your music taste is amazing.”

Melinda let out a nervous laugh. “Thanks. And, um, thanks again for looking after Chloe. Ever since her dad left, I...It's been hard to keep up with everything let alone a kid. But I’m trying, y’know. I just want her to be happy.”

Melinda looked down at Chloe who had removed an iPad from her mother’s purse and began watching something on YouTube. Julie felt her heart clench at Melinda’s words. She knew what it was like to have a single parent. And she knew how hard it was for that parent to have to take on things alone. After her mom died, her dad struggled to keep up with both her Carlos despite the fact that he was very much present for everything that went on in their lives.

Juggling kids and a job and bills all at once was a lot to handle. But Ray still had the help of Julie and Tia Victoria most times. Melinda...she didn’t have anyone.

Making a quick decision, Julie took a business card and a pen from her small bag. Flipping the card to the back, she wrote her personal number and handed it to Melinda without a second thought.

Melinda took the card skeptically and gave a confused look that looked all too similar to Chloe’s. Their genes basically did copy and paste. “What’s this?”

“It’s my phone number,” Julie replied simply. “Anytime you need someone to watch Chloe just call me and I’ll be there.”

Melinda’s brows knitted together. “I don’t understand.”

“Being a single parent is hard. Trust me, I know. My dad tried to hide it but I knew he was grateful for me and my Tia could help with dinner and rides and taking care of my brother. No one should have to do this by themselves.”

Melinda seemed taken aback at Julie’s eyes. Tears filled her eyes but she cleared her throat and refrained from shedding them. She stared at the card with an indistinguishable look. Looking back up at the singer, Melinda couldn’t hide the emotion in her voice as she said, “Thank you. I...I don’t have any money to pay you.”

Julie waved Melinda off. “Don’t be ridiculous. Getting to be with Chloe for more times than one is just as much for my benefit as it is yours.”

“But won’t you be busy with, I don’t know, _celebrity_ things.”

Julie just shook her head with insistence. “I'll make time.”

That really struck Melinda. The determination that lied in Julie’s voice was enough to catch her and even Julie herself off guard. There Melinda stood, bewildered before she laughed waterily. “Can I hug you?” 

Julie only smiled as she pulled Melinda in for a tight hug. Squeezing her once more just for the hell of it, Julie released Melinda from her hold and flashed a smile at her.

“Don’t forget to call,” Julie said with fake seriousness as she squeezed Melinda’s shoulders to let her know that she meant her words under the playful tone.

Julie knelt down to Chloe’s level just as the girl embraced her in a big hug. Julie breathed out a laugh and squeezed her just as tightly as she did Melinda. “I’ll see you around, kid.”

“Okay! Bye Luke. Bye Alex. Bye Reggie.” Chloe excitedly moved to hug each boy, Reggie being the last. 

Julie couldn’t quite hear what Chloe had whispered in Reggie’s ear but when he chuckled softly and whispered back not as quietly something about Chloe being his favorite too she had enough clues to guess what they were briefly discussing.

Melinda and Chloe waved goodbye but not before catching a picture with the entire group.

Later that day, the Julie and the Julie and the Phantoms official Instagram page was tagged in a post. They were tagged in a lot of posts on a daily basis that they'd usually ignore but this name, in particular, stood out to Julie.

**melindajames27 tagged you in a post**

She clicked on the notification quickly before it got lost in a wave of new notifications. A picture of her, Chloe, Melinda, and the boys appeared on the screen with the caption:

**Had a pretty eventful day. I lost Chloe in the mall and while she was gone she accidentally became friends with @jatp. You could say that I’m currently freaking out at the moment. @juliemolina is the most beautiful human I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and the boys were so nice. Such an awesome and pants-shitting experience lol!**

Julie liked the post and commented:

**No, I had the pleasure of meeting you! Both you and your daughter are adorable and I had so much fun getting to spend time with Chloe. Can’t wait to see you guys again!**

It’s always fun to see who you meet when you’re famous. It can be kind of scary because, yeah, there are some crazy people out there. But times like these are the ones that Julie cherishes the most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh i hoped this was good. It's 4 am right now so i’m def not gonna proof read but tell my if yall like it! I've had it stuck in my head for a while but just never felt like putting it to writing. Also i just wanna say that i love trying to incorporate social media into their famous lives. I feel like it helps add to the reality of their celebrity status? idk. Anyways Love you guys and hope ur doing wellllllllll. P.s. make sure you call me out on all my mistakes so that i can fix them later lol

**Author's Note:**

> Okay i think this is kind of a trial chapter to see how this goes. As most of you know i do not proofread lol. So call me out on any mistakes! Tell if you liked it!


End file.
